US federal government goes into partial shutdown as Congress struggles to agree on 2019 budget

December 31, 2018

For the third time in 2018, the federal government went into a partial shutdown on December 22, with Congress and the president still at an impasse over border security funding.

On December 6, Congress had passed a continuing resolution that extended the current funding levels through December 21 for federal agencies lacking final appropriations for fiscal year (FY) 2019. President Donald Trump had signed the bill just before the previous stopgap spending measure expired on December 7. Nevertheless, lawmakers were unable to reach a compromise before their December 21 deadline.

The year ended with several unfinished spending bills, leaving agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Interior (DOI) with a funding lapse until another short-term resolution or permanent funding deal is enacted for FY 2019. As the year drew to a close, the shutdown was still in effect and expected to stretch well into the new year.